Habitat For Humanity December 14, 2001

Team Organization Web / Architectural Team Prathima Venkatesan Jimmy Johnson Berook Moges Sam Jin Renae Hopf Energy Efficiency Team Anshul Mangal Matt Selvey Rachel Austin Chris Costanzo Team Leader – Jimmy Johnson

Overview Web / Architectural Database and Bar Coding System Volunteer Tutorials Energy Efficiency Setback Thermostats Solar Fan

Point of Sales Database Purpose Track inventory and donors in the Habitat resale store Increase the organization and maintainability of the resale store Potential addition to resale stores at other HFH locations

Point of Sales Database Status Database currently being tested by Habitat Database will be updated based on Habitat’s feedback Bar Coding System being designed and developed Bar Coding System Utilize hand held bar code scanner w/ keyboard wedge Bar code labeling software Interface to database using Visual Basic

Point of Sales Database Design Users will login into system User information stored in separate database Once logged in users will be interfaced with product database Users will be able to view, edit, delete, and add new product information Options available based on privileges

Point of Sales Database Users will also be able to search and display specific information Each product will be labeled with unique bar code Status Login functional but needs more error checking Product information viewable but not yet searchable or editable

Point of Sales Database Future Donor and invoice interfacing to be added Login and product information interface to be completed early next semester Testable version for Habitat Resale store ready by middle of next semester Demo

Volunteer Tutorials Purpose Train volunteers online using text and videos so time is not wasted during home construction Status 16 text tutorials are currently accessible thru web Drywall, Framing, and Felt paper video is added to revised tutorials

Volunteer Tutorials Updated tutorials ct/HCG/construction_tutorial.htm ct/HCG/construction_tutorial.htm Future plans Continue adding video with captions to more of the text tutorials Add voice recording to videos

Setback Thermostat Purpose Lower energy usage of the house by implementing temperature control thermostats Meet with homeowners and give them an orientation on the thermostat.

Set-Back Thermostat  Programmable thermostats can lower energy use in home  Modeled in Energy-10 software package

Orientation with Homeowners Gauged homeowners knowledge of thermostats in general. Weekday Habits Talked about their work and sleep habits Any children? Weekend habits Other features of the thermostat (Vacation settings, etc.)

Data Collection Monthly contact with homeowners Collected quantity of energy “therms” in units of DTH 1 DTH = 1,000,000 BTU’s This was done to avoid changing gas prices per unit in the analysis

Energy-10 Energy-10 software can identify the best combination of energy-efficient strategies, including day lighting, passive solar heating, and high- efficiency mechanical systems Can be input with different specifications that pertain to the houses we are analyzing. Will be used with setback thermostat settings as well as non-setback thermostat settings. (benchmarks)

Data Analysis Data collection will last throughout the heating season. Collected data will be compared with and plotted against Energy-10 simulated data Energy savings will be determined

Problems This winter has been unseasonably warm and may not reflect normal winter heating In a report by “The Daily News Tribune” Lisa Glover, a Commonwealth Gas spokesperson claims that “Residential heating bills could be as much as 17 percent lower than last winter.” Because of this the team will have to consider further analysis continuing through another winter

Solar Powered Attic Fan Purpose To provide cost effective and low maintenance solution to having low air circulation in a habitat for humanity home Provide insight into bigger projects involving solar energy Design flaws with previous fan Size of Solar Panels AC to DC conversion Cost

Solar Powered Attic Fan

How it works Solar Panel w/ tracking system - Charge Controller - Battery - Fan Problems Charge controller not fully functional Integration of tracking system Mounting of fan on a roof of a actual habitat home

Solar Powered Attic Fan Future Plans Continue working on a fully functional and tested model of the fan Mount on roof of resale store Collect data from resale store to see what type of a difference the attic-fan is making

Team Conclusions Arch/Web Team Resale Database Updated database is currently being tested by Habitat Future implementation of Bar Coding System Tutorials Continue to update, revise, and add to current tutorials Research best way to present materials Continue to integrate video with current text tutorials

Team Conclusions Energy Team Setback Thermostat: Energy bills will be collected and analyzed Energy-10 analysis will be done Estimated $50 - $80 savings a year Solar Power Exhaust Fan